The ASE Index (ASE) sank 7.1 percent to 586.04 at the close in
Athens, its largest drop since October 2008. The gauge earlier
retreated as much as 7.6 percent. All but four of the 60 stocks
in the equity benchmark declined. The FTSE/Athex Banks Index
slumped 9.8 percent.

“There are two issues right now: the first is the news
during the weekend and the fact that we’re still in the
uncertainty area,” said Theodore Krintas, managing director of
Attica Wealth Management in Athens, in a phone interview. “That
was multiplied by the fact that today’s markets were quite
uneasy with respect to Spain.”

The International Monetary Fund will stop paying further
rescue aid to Greece, making the country’s insolvency in
September more likely, Der Spiegel magazine reported, citing
unidentified European Union officials.

The troika of Greece’s international creditors -- the
European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF --
will arrive in Athens tomorrow to assess the government’s
progress in abiding by the terms of its two bailouts.

“What’s emerging is that Greece will probably not be able
to fulfill its conditions,” Germany’s Vice Chancellor, Philipp Roesler said yesterday in an interview with the broadcaster ARD.
“What is clear: if Greece doesn’t fulfill those conditions,
then there can be no more payments.”

Spending Cuts

Greece’s Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, and his coalition
partners plan 11.5 billion euros ($14 billion) of additional
budget cuts for 2013 and 2014 to convince the euro area, the ECB
and the IMF to continue to disburse funds.

Spain’s 10-year bond yield climbed 23 basis points to 7.50
percent today, the most since the single currency came into
being in 1999, after El Pais reported that six Spanish regions
may ask for aid from the central government.